


Balloon Bouquets

by BotchedExperiment



Series: LazyTown more like Hurt/Comfort Town [4]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Injuries, Panic Attacks, i need to stop, so am I, sportacus is a mess ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 04:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9475238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BotchedExperiment/pseuds/BotchedExperiment
Summary: Sportacus wasn't quite fast enough this time and the guilt is eating at him.





	

Sportacus has told the kids time and time again that it's not safe to climb big trees, especially with no adult around. He doesn’t like the idea of the children putting themselves in potentially dangerous situations and him not being there to stop them.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what they did.

Stephanie, Stingy and Trixie had all climbed the highest tree that they could find. They were seated on the same branch when it snapped, and Sportacus was on the other side of town when his crystal beeped. He rushed to the park as quickly as he could.

He caught Stingy, barely managed to catch Trixie, and he went to catch Stephanie as well.

He wasn’t fast enough.

His heart stopped when she hit the ground.

"Stephanie!"

She had yet to get up. She wasn’t okay.

Suddenly, she screamed out in pain. "My arm!" Stephanie cried.

Sportacus hovered over her for a few seconds as he thought about what he should do. He had never felt so useless in all his life. All Sportacus could do was pick her up and rush her to the clinic.

Stingy and Trixie were worried, and kept asking questions about her that Sportacus didn’t have the answer to, so he sent them home and told them someone would let them know when she was ready for visitors.

Now he sits in the waiting room with his head in his hands, bouncing his leg anxiously as they treat her.

"Sportadork?"

He looks up, only to find the town villain standing in front of him, looking about as anxious as Sportacus feels. Robbie holds a bouquet of pink and purple balloons in one hand, the other fidgeting with the hem of his vest.

He's so relieved that he has a friend there with him and he hopes Robbie decides to stay.

"Robbie, what are you doing here?" His voice is shaking. He's barely keeping it together and talking just seems to make him want to cry.

"I uh- brought these." He lifts the hand with the balloons and some of them hit the low ceiling with a rubbery _squeak_.

Sportacus can't help but smile.

"That's very nice of you, Robbie." He clears his throat and sits up straight in the chair. "She should be released soon. They had to do some X-rays and things."

"So everyone's going to be okay?" Robbie asks, taking a seat next to Sportacus.

Sportacus loves hearing that sincerity in the villain's voice. He loves to entertain the idea that - no matter how much Robbie tries to trick them or bother them or ruin their fun - he secretly cares about the children.

"Yes, I think so." He pauses. "Except . . . Stephanie's arm . . . she . . ."

It’s suddenly very hard to breath. The guilt has been eating him alive all day. Talking about it just forces him to relinquish the feelings he's kept in, trying to keep it together for the mayor and the kids, but now that Robbie's here, he can't stave off the panic any longer.

"Oh . . . Oh no." Is all he hears Robbie say before Sportacus finds himself freaking out.

His head is down, hands gripping his hat as Sportacus' heart races. He can hear Robbie telling him to _breathe_ but he can't and he doesn’t know what to do.

He _didn’t_ know what to do. When that branch snapped and the kids were screaming for help and he couldn’t save all of them.

"Sportafloop," Robbie says, wrapping an arm around his shaking body.

Sportacus doesn’t want to look at him. He doesn’t want to look at anyone. This was all his fault. What kind of hero is he if he can't even save someone from a tree?

_"Sportacus!"_

Slowly, Robbie's thin fingers under his chin guide his head up. He's face-to-face with Robbie, breathing heavily and tears streaming down his face like a waterfall. He's never seen Robbie look so concerned.

"It's just a broken arm. She's fine."

Sportacus lets himself be pulled to Robbie's chest.

" _You're_ fine." Robbie says softly, resting his chin on the top of Sportacus' head.

"She was in so much pain, Robbie. I didn’t do anything to save-"

"No, sh. You _couldn’t_ do anything, alright?"

Sportacus doesn’t answer. Robbie pulls away and looks him in the eyes.

"Alright?" He says more sternly. "It’s not even remotely your fault. Those brats were the ones who decided to climb a giant tree by themselves. Alright?"

Sportacus nods.

"Now, breathe."

Sportacus does.

He sniffles, wiping at his eyes.

"Here . . ." Robbie pulls a tissue from the box on the nearby side table and wipes the tear tracks away in a gentle motion.

Sportacus finally relaxes and a breath of relief comes out of both he and Robbie when they hear, "Stephanie's ready for visitors."

\-----

Stephanie's face lights up as soon as she sees him. "Sportacus!"

"Hey," He greets with a smile, minding her arm as he gives her a small hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm kind of tired."

"Yes, I'm sure you are." No doubt they had given her some sort of pain medicine. She looks wiped out, but no less excited to see him.

Sportacus follows her gaze behind him. Robbie's standing in the corner of the room with the balloons. He realizes he's been spotted and approaches with hesitation. Sportacus motions a hand toward them, telling him to join.

"Here," Robbie says, setting the balloon bouquet next to her. "I uh . . . Didn’t know what else to-"

She gasps. "They're so pretty! Thank you!"

"O-oh. Good."

Sportacus smiles. She's okay, and he's never been so relieved in his life, he's sure.

"Welp, time to go!" Robbie says, shooting Sportacus an urging look, begging that they both get out of there.

"Wha-?"

All of the children are suddenly rushing in and bombarding Stephanie with greetings and a thousand questions. She looks ecstatic to see all of her friends there, but Robbie looks ready to run out of there and get away from all of the noisy kids.

Heh, Robbie must've heard them coming.

"Ah, okay," He nods. "Stephanie, I'll see you later, alright?"

Sportacus starts following Robbie out the door, but he comes to an abrupt stop when-

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

She extends her good arm for another hug, and he complies happily. The room is filled with loud children and it's hard to hear anything. But as Stephanie pulls him down for a hug, she says,

"Please don’t feel bad."

He looks at her with bewilderment.

"Uncle Milford said you looked upset."

Oh. Was it that obvious?

Sportacus nods. "I was a little worried. Just please don’t go climbing trees like that again, okay?"

"Yeah . . . Okay."

\-----

They're making their way out of the clinic, Sportacus feeling as if a ton of weight has been lifted off his shoulders. At some point, though he isn't sure when, he and Robbie's fingers interlaced together as they left.

"Thank you for uh, that. Sorry, it was very sudden."

A small smile pulls at Robbie's lips. "It's okay. It's kind of nice knowing someone as messed up as I am."


End file.
